HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM) – The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office encourages safe trick-or-treating for Halloween.
To ensure this Halloween is safe for your children, the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office offers the following safety tips:
• Costumes should be short enough to prevent tripping. Masks should not be too restrictive with adequate holes for proper respiration and peripheral vision.
• Watch costumed children around pets.• Avoid hard plastic or wooden props, opting instead for items made of foam rubber, which is soft and flexible.
• To help make the child more visible after dark, trick-or-treaters should carry a brightly colored bag and a
flashlight or glow stick. Add reflective tape to the sides, front, and back of the child’s costume.• At all times, watch for traffic and avoid walking in the street whenever possible.
• An adult should always accompany young children. A parent should stay within close range of young children at all times and children should never be allowed to go down a street alone. Walk with your children to each house and wait near the porch or front entrance of the home until they return.
• Older children should travel in pairs or in groups at all times while trick-or treating and never venture down a dark, empty street.• Parents should know the route that their children are following. Children should always walk together to the front door of each house and only cross the street at crosswalks.• Dark, unlit homes should be avoided.
Ottawa County Sheriff Deputy Tony Boersema says If you’re out driving you need to be aware of children as they do not always use the crosswalks.
“We know during trick or treating that’s not going to be as likely to happen. Kids are gonna cross with whatever house has their lights on that they can go to. So that really puts a huge responsibility on the drivers to make sure they are watching for those kids. And again, drive with your lights on.”
Halloween hours in Holland are from 6-8 pm Tuesday.
• Children should save their candy until they get home so you can inspect it. Discard any unwrapped or suspicious looking goodies. If your child does get sick, call your family doctor or the hospital emergency room immediately and save all wrappers. It is also helpful to determine what he or she ate and which house it came from.
• Keep flammable items, such as your jack-o-lantern, away from small children, pets, and flammable materials such as draperies, furniture, and paper decorations. Never leave a candle burning unattended.
